"The Australian National Life Cycle Inventory Database (AusLCI) is a major initiative currently being delivered by the Australian Life Cycle Assessment Society (ALCAS). The aim is to provide and maintain a national, publicly-accessible database with easy access to authoritative, comprehensive and transparent environmental information on a wide range of Australian products and services over their entire life cycle. It is an invaluable tool for those involved in environmental assessment and particularly life cycle assessment (LCA), as it provides consistent guidelines, principles and methodologies for the collection of life cycle inventory (LCI) data, along with protocols for LCA processes for different sectors."

"The full-feature LCA solution with an intuitive user interface and elaborate workflow for minimal training requirements. Work in teams and collaborate internally and externally (e.g. for expert support and critical reviews) with a smart user permission system. Aveny LCA is accessed directly via web browser and does not require software installation on the practitioner's computer."

LCA, Ecoinvent

Y

EU, Swizerland

12

Aware

WULCA, OpenLCA

http://www.wulca-waterlca.org/aware.html

tool

software

advanced

"AWARE is to be used as a water use midpoint indicator representing the relative Available WAter REmaining per area in a watershed, after the demand of humans and aquatic ecosystems has been met. It assesses the potential of water deprivation, to either humans or ecosystems, building on the assumption that the less water remaining available per area, the more likely another user will be deprived (Boulay et al., 2016, submitted)."

"The Inventory of Carbon and Energy (also know as the ICE database) is a leading embodied energy and carbon database for building materials which is available for free on this page. Our founder, Dr Craig Jones, created the ICE database in his former role as a researcher at the University of Bath whilst working for Professor Geoff Hammond, at the Sustainable Energy Research Team (SERT). "

"Brightway2 is a open source framework for life cycle assessment (LCA). It doesn’t try to replace software like SimaPro or OpenLCA, but rather to offer new possibilities to those who want to break the limits of conventional LCA. So it's not for everyone, and you will need to invest some time learning about Python to use Brightway2. Basically, this is the framework for you if your project lies at the intersection of LCA and your imagination."

open-source, Python, coding, LCA, postdoctoral

N

15

Carbon Disclosure Project Open Data Portal

Carbon Disclosure Project

https://data.cdp.net/

tool

data

beginner, intermediate

X

X

X

X

"A database of city and corporate carbon policies, intensities, and targets."

embodied carbon

N

16

Carbon Footprint

Carbon Footprint, Ltd

https://www.carbonfootprint.com/productlifecycle.html

tool

software

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

"We provide two different approaches to LCA, both providing you with: An assessment of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions of your products or services; Detailed reporting with a breakdown of your product emissions; Support during the data collection process; Recommendations to reduce your product emissions after the assessment; Marketing support"

LCA, Ecoinvent, carbon offsetting, Carbon Footprint Standard

Y

EU, UK

17

Carbon Lighthouse

Carbon Lighthouse

https://www.carbonlighthouse.com/

tool

software

intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

"Because 40% of emissions come from the built environment, it’s time for a different kind of energy service that makes it profitable for building owners to fight climate change. By tapping your building’s wasted energy — its Efficiency Reserves — we shape its energy supply and demand to produce guaranteed revenue with zero upfront costs or capital expense."

solar power, deep data, energy

Y

18

database of embodied Quanitity outputs (deQo)

MIT Building Technology Program

https://www.carbondeqo.com/database/graph

tool

software

beginner, intermediate, advanced

"The database of embodied Quantity outputs (deQo) is a service provided by the MIT Building Technology Program.
Dr. Catherine De Wolf is the project head.
Serena Li, Margaret Wang, Dan Reynolds, Eleanor Pence, Jérôme Laforge, and Catherine De Wolf wrote the code and did the web design.
The methods and data structure were developed with input from the Carbon Leadership Forum in order to align with the developing Structural Engineering SE 2050 Commitment Initiative. Funding was provided as part of the LCA for Low Carbon Construction/Embodied Carbon Benchmark project funded by the Charles Pankow Foundation, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Skanska."

embodied carbon

N

19

Declare

ILFI

https://living-future.org/declare/

tool

information, data

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

"Find healthy products for your next project. Declare is a transparency platform and product database that is changing the materials marketplace"

ingredients, nutrition label, lifespan, reuse, CSI

Y

20

ebalance

Integrated Knowledge for our Environment (IKE)

http://www.ike-global.com/products-2/lca-software-ebalance

tool

software

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

"eBalance is a full-featured LCA software, developed by IKE Environmental Technology Co. Ltd. independently, and shipped with Chinese and global high quality databases. The eBalance package is a professional tool for LCA studies of all kinds of products, and the best choice for LCAs of products manufactured in China, which has been adopted by more than 1000 users from China and the world."

"Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a quantitative, multi-criteria, multi-step and based on product functionality environmental assessment method. Our team of experts has been conducting LCA in compliance with the requirements of the ISO 14040-44 standard for over 20 years on multiple products and services and covering varied activities."

"Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) is a method - a mathematically defined procedure using economic and environmental data to determine the effect of changing the output of a single sector. The method can be applied to any economy defined by the transactions between sectors. Each application of the method defines an EIO-LCA model"

"One of our primary visions is see Life Cycle Design (LCD) become a standard component for all building and construction projects.

In order to achieve this, the software has to be extremely accessible. eToolLCD is web-based and open-use for this reason. We seek to expose as many people as possible to the power of Life Cycle Design (LCD) and accelerate the propagation of good design.

To support ongoing development of the software, anyone using eToolLCD for commercial gain* is required to “certify” their project. In essence, this is a pay-as-you-go service, where eTool provides a 3rd party review of your work, to ensure it has been completed correctly. Once your project has been certified by one of our LCD engineers, we provide you with a certificate that allows you to publish your results to clients. For information about certification fees, please head to our LCA Services page."

LCA, embodied carbon

Y

Australia, UK

25

European Database for Corrugated Board Life Cycle Studies

Fefco

http://www.fefco.org/lca/data

tool

software

intermediate, advanced

X

"FEFCO and CEPI Containerboard (CCB)have been collecting and publishing data from the European paper and corrugated board industry for corrugated board life cycle studies for the past 20 years. The data is updated every three years.
Thanks to this database, the industry aims at contributing to the increasing need for basic environmental data for LCA studies. Data collection is of utmost importance for the development of LCA and is crucial in determining its reliability results."

carboard, LCA, LCI

N

26

Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE)

International Finance Corporation - World Bank Group

https://app.edgebuildings.com/#/

tool

software

intermediate, advanced

X

"An innovation of IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, EDGE makes it faster, easier and more affordable than ever before to build and brand green. EDGE reveals the systems and solutions that work best for your climate, bringing international caché to your certified project without losing the local context. Meet the growing expectations of your customers by creating value and positively impacting their lives, resulting in greater profitability and a healthier environment for all."

operational CO², certification

Y

Everywhere but Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, or Japan

27

Gabi LCA Databases

Thinkstep

http://www.gabi-software.com/america/databases/gabi-databases/

tool

Software

intermediate, advanced

X

"We offer over 12,000 Life Cycle Inventory datasets based on primary data collection during our global work with companies, associations and public bodies. These datasets have been developed from an underlying database of about 30,000 unit process data sets – by far the largest LCI data industry coverage worldwide. And, for the first time, regionalized water and land use data are included throughout the GaBi databases and can be used with your own regionalized data. Compliance and standardization concerning ISO, EN, ILCD, PEF/OEF has been furtheradvanced, and the dataset-internal documentation is more detailed than ever. "

LCA, Fee

Y

28

GHG Emissions Calculator

Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA)

https://bmra.org/ghg-emissions-calculator/

tool

Software

intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

X

"Quantifies the primary energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released from the production of wood recovered from an old house and from new wood harvested from the forest and produced in a sawmill with both products ending up installed in a new house. In addition... quantifies the primary energy and GHG emissions released if the recovered wood is not reused but instead is either burned to replace coal or natural gas to generate electricity, landfilled with or without landfill gas capture equipment, ground into mulch, or some combination."

"The "Getting the Numbers Right" (GNR) is a voluntary, independently-managed database of CO2 and energy performance information on the global cement industry. Standard web-based reports are available to interested stakeholders.

The database delivers uniform, accurate and verified data so that the industry can understand its own current and future performance potential. Key drivers of emissions and performance are also included. The database also provides policy makers with current performance data to aid their analysis and decisions.

The GNR database now covers data up to 2016 (competition law concerns recommend a one-year time lag in publishing data). It has grown over the years to cover 849 individual facilities producing 807 million tonnes of cement. This represents 19% of global cement production. Starting from the 2012 dataset, version 3 of the CSI's "CO2 and Energy Protocol: CO2 and Energy Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Cement Industry" (published in 2011) has been applied, which new indices include data on electricity use in clinker making and on electricity generation using waste heat."

30

Green Concrete Selector

Climate Earth

www.climateearth.com/greenmixselector/

tool

software

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

"The free Green Concrete Selector gives users access to embodied carbon data for 20,000 concrete mixes from across the U.S. from innovative low carbon producers. With instant access to current mix designs for any strength, architects and engineers can see the range of embodied carbon possible and specify lower carbon mixes with confidence."

concrete, EPD

N

31

Green Footstep

RMI

http://www.greenfootstep.org/

tool

software

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

"Would you like to know how much your building is contributing to global warming? This calculator reveals the design targets required to achieve carbon neutrality, net zero site energy, and other goals. Your new construction or retrofit project can become part of the solution to global climate change.

Architects, engineers, developers, and others can use this tool on commercial and residential projects. The tool will report your building project's greenhouse gas emissions from site development, construction, and operation. Log in to be able to save and reload your project. See how useful this tool is for you by viewing case studies."

carbon neutrality, net zero energy

N

32

Green Globes

Green Building Initiative

http://www.greenglobes.com/home.asp

tool

information/publication

intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

"Green Globes is an online assessment protocol, rating system, and guidance for green building design, operation and management. It is interactive, flexible and affordable, and provides market recognition of a building’s environmental attributes through third-party assessment."

certification, energy, water

Y

33

Greenhouse Gas Protocol

World resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

Building on a 20-year partnership between World resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), GHG Protocol works with governments, industry associations, NGOs, businesses and other organizations.

We offer online training on our standards and tools, as well as the “Built on GHG Protocol” review service, which recognizes sector guidance, product rules and tools that are in conformance with GHG Protocol standards.

GHG, emissions, embodied carbon

N

34

Greenhouse Gas Protocol Process 3 Estimator

Quantis

https://quantis-suite.com/Scope-3-Evaluator/

tool

software

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

"For many companies, more than 80% of their GHG impacts occur outside of their own operations*. However, quantification and reporting of value chain emissions can be a time intensive task and many companies just don’t know where to start. As the developers of the Scope 3 Accounting and Reporting Standard, GHG Protocol seeks to reduce barriers to uptake of the standard and encourage the use of the standard to improve management of companies’ value chain GHG emissions. "

"Health Product Declaration® (HPD) Collaborative is a not-for-profit, member association with over 230 organizational members, representing the full spectrum of the building industry: architects, designers, building owners, manufacturers, consultants, tool developers, and others who all share a common purpose to improve the transparency of information and the material health of the built environment. We are dedicated to continuously improving the building industry’s performance through transparency, openness and innovation in the practices of reporting, disclosure, specification and selection of building products."

LEED v4, HPD

Y

36

iPoint

Kerp Competence Center, iPoint-Systems GmbH

http://www.kerp.at/en/products/sustainable-business-systems/

tool

software

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

X

"The iPoint Compliance Agent LCA module analyses the environmental performance of your products. It collects and combines the relevant data from the supplier network and internal production as well as data from the use phase and recycling and reuse objectives. That way companies get an overview of potential environmental risks and improvements."

"This Practice Guide introduces the use
of life cycle assessment (LCA) to analyze
the environmental impacts of buildings.
The intent of this Practice Guide is to help
building professionals understand why and
how to use LCA in their work. It addresses
basic questions such as:
• How do buildings impact the
environment?
• What is LCA and how is it used to
evaluate buildings?
• What is the process of performing an
LCA of a building?"

"The ecoinvent database provides well documented process data for thousands of products, helping you make truly informed choices about their environmental impact."

LCI, Fee

Y

39

Level(s) - Building Sustainability Performance Toolkit

European Commission

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/buildings.htm#toolkit

tool

guideline

intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

"Level(s) is a voluntary reporting framework to improve the sustainability of buildings. Using existing standards, Level(s) provides a common EU approach to the assessment of environmental performance in the built environment.

Level(s) provides an easy starting point to introduce sustainability into your work. Within the Level(s) framework, each indicator is designed to link the individual building’s impact with the priorities for sustainability at the European level. This focuses the Level(s) user on a manageable number of essential concepts and indicators at building level that contribute to achieving EU and Member State environmental policy goals."

"Cooperation for sustainability initiatives can quickly be derailed if there is not a common understanding. Speaking the same language, understanding each word, each stage of product or process and having a clear, visual picture of how these impacts every part of an organization is key to create solid engagement and cooperation. The Life Cycle Perception (LCP) business game is a proven tool to break down silo barriers of understanding and commitment and to foster unparalleled engagement."

"This document presents a simple example of the steps in Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings: A Practice Guide (referred to as the Practice Guide in this document). A small gingerbread house is used instead of a real-life building for the sake of simplicity, and also to focus attention on the process instead of the material results. All of the numbers for this example have no basis in reality, including the environmental impacts calculated in the later steps."

LCA, tutorial, embodied carbon

N

43

Online Sustainable Conservation Assistance resource (OSCAR)

The Association for Preservation Technology International

http://oscar-apti.org

tool

software

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

"OSCAR is a cloud-based resource for learning about mitigating carbon in existing buildings. The software guides users through the process of designing the sustainability improvements that are most appropriate to historic buildings and applies to most existing buildings."

restoration, conservation, embodied carbon

N

44

OpenLCA Life Cycle Assessment

OpenLCA

http://www.openlca.org/download/

tool

software

intermediate, advanced

X

Open-source LCA software free LCA data and optional purchase of other LCA program operator data. Users can create LCAs for processes from scratch. Tutorials and manual are available.

"A methodology for seismic performance assessment of individual buildings that properly accounts for uncertainty in our ability to accurately predict response, and communicates performance in ways that better relate to the decision-making needs of stakeholders."

Spain's Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI), Solid Forest, others

https://www.solidforest.com/software-huella-ambiental.html

tool

initiative

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

"The main goal of REPARA 2.0 is the development of new techniques and methodologies that can support infraestructures management and allow the rehabilitation and meintenance of any kind of road at lower economic and environmental costs, improving at the same time the roads adaptation to climate change"

"The Quartz Common Products Database
is an open database of composition, health hazard and environmental impact data for building products."

LCA, LCI, EPD

N

50

REGIS

sinum

http://www.sinum.com/index.php?id=43&L=1

tool

software

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

"EGIS enables you to measure, control and communicate your ecoperformance continuously and in the most simple way. Keep your material and energy flows under control; professionally and economically."

LCA, Ecoinvent, German language, Spanish language, Japanese language

Y

EU, Swizerland, Germany, Japan

51

Responsible Sourcing Tool

The State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Verité, Made in a Free World, and the Aspen Institute

https://www.responsiblesourcingtool.org/

tool

data

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

X

"Is human tracking a part of your supply chain?"

ethical sourcing, materials

N

52

SimaPro

SimaPro

https://simapro.com/

tool

software

intermediate, advanced

X

"SimaPro has been the world’s leading LCA software package for 25 years. It is trusted by industry and academics in more than 80 countries. SimaPro was developed to help you effectively apply your LCA expertise to drive change – to provide the facts needed to create sustainable value."

LCA, LCI, EPD

Y

53

Sustainable Minds

Sustainable Minds

http://sustainableminds.com/

tool

Software, information/publication, data

intermediate, advanced

X

"The SM Transparency Catalog™ is the educational marketing
& customer service solution
that makes it easy…
for building professionals and manufacturers’ employees & partners, to find all the brands and all their products with transparency disclosures
– in a glance – to inform greener and healthier specification decisions."

LCA, EPD, Fee

Y/N

54

Tally

Kieran Timberlake

https://kierantimberlake.com/pages/view/95/tally/parent:4

tool

Software

intermediate, advanced

X

"n principle, architects and other building professionals should be able to conduct LCAs using the Building Information Models (BIM) that are a part of standard architectural practice. In reality, building models do not contain all the ingredients that go into a building. A BIM model might recognize a steel assembly, for example, but it would not take into account that most steel assemblies use a significant amount of concrete as well. In order to address this challenge, KieranTimberlake's affiliate company, KT Innovations, partnered with Autodesk (link) and thinkstep (link) to create Tally (link to choosetally.com), a Revit plugin that allows Revit users to imbue their BIM models with information about the building materials and architectural products their completed structures will ultimately contain. In addition to quantifying emissions to land, air, and water, Tally also factors a building or material's embodied environmental impacts. Essentially, Tally adds another layer of detail to BIM models by recognizing materials that are not modeled explicitly, like the concrete in steel assemblies, and by taking into account a model's diverse range of material classes. In doing so, Tally gives its users the power to conduct whole building LCAs or to use LCA data to run comparative analyses of various design options."

LCA, Fee

Y

55

TEAM™ 5.2

PWC, Ecobilan

https://ecobilan.pwc.fr/en/boite-a-outils/team.html

tool

software

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

"A powerful and flexible tool to calculate and improve the environmental performance. While taking into account the environment in products and services becomes a factor of differentiation and creation of value, Life Cycle Assessment is more and more used as a steering tool for strategy and innovation. By editing the last version of its tool, TEAM™ version 5.2, PwC proposes to users an easy running of the world-wide recognized methodology of LCA and its more strategic application, eco-design, in order to meet market needs."

LCA, Ecoinvent 2.2, ELCD, French language

Y

EU, France

56

Tenant Energy Optimization Program

Urban Land Institute

https://tenantenergy.uli.org/

tool

guideline, information/publication

beginner, intermediate

X

X

X

The Tenant Energy Optimization Program is a ten-step process that integrates energy efficiency into tenant space design and construction and delivers excellent financial returns through energy conservation. To support building owners, tenants, architects, engineers, and other service providers interested in implementing the process, the program provides tools such as technical resource guides, how-to documents, case studies, and other training materials.

energy, efficiency, Tenant Improvement (TI)

N

57

The Construction Carbon Calculator

Build Carbon Neutral

http://buildcarbonneutral.org/

tool

software

beginner, intermediate

X

X

X

"Constructing new buildings and sites with the least possible environmental impact involves three important steps: reduce, renew and offset. Offsetting means calculating the project's carbon footprint so it can be balanced by funding resources or activities like renewable energy and land protection — resources that benefit and protect the planet.

This tool estimates the embodied energy and subsequent carbon amounts released during construction. The measurements account for building materials, processes and carbon released due to ecosystem degradation or sequestered through landscape installation or restoration."

"Umberto LCA+ is the LCA software with the most extensive integrated cost analysis, e.g. for Life Cycle Costing. This enables you to create different scenarios with regard to technological, legal, market, price and demand trends in terms of costs and environmental criteria."

LCA, German language, Ecoinvent 3, Life Cycle Costing

Y

EU, Germany

60

Zero Code Energy Calculator

Architecture 2030

https://zero-code.org/energy-calculator/

tool

software, data

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

Enter building and PV information to generate requirements for reaching zero net carbon

"NBI has been leading the market development of zero energy (ZE) buildings since 2008 when we supported the development of the first ZNE Action Plan to help California meet its ambitious zero energy goals. Since then, we have been tracking the counts and location of zero energy verified and emerging projects across the United States and Canada. ZE buildings are ultra-low energy buildings that consume only as much power as is generated onsite through renewable energy resources over the course of a year. Verified projects have been reviewed by NBI or another third-party as having achieved ZE performance. Emerging projects are those that have a stated ZE goal, but have not yet been verified with 12 months of energy use and generation data."

zero energy

N

62

BuildingGreen.com

Building Green Inc

www.buildinggreen.com

resource

information/publication

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

"Knowledge sharing, consulting, product guidance, education"

LEED, consulting, product database

Y/N

63

A life-cycle energy analysis of building materials in the Negev desert

aBen-Gurion University of the Negev, Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies, Sede Boqer Campus 84990, Israel

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778807001776

resource

information/publication

intermediate, advanced

X

"The objective of this study is to identify building materials which may optimize a building's energy requirementsover its entire life cycle, by analyzing both embodied and operational energy consumption in a climatically responsive building in the Negev desert region of southern Israel—comparing its actual material composition with a number of possible alternatives."

LCA

N

N. Huberman, and D. Pearlmuttera

May 2000

Materials

64

ADEME: French Environment & Energy Management Agency

Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Énergie

https://www.ademe.fr/en/expertise

resource

information/publication

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

X

"ADEME's expertise is the fruit of a collective effort and shared visions:

arising from the practice of the agency's four vocations: developing knowledge, advising, convincing and assisting with implementation;
based on a diverse organisation: national central departments with an international outlook and regional divisions;
in contact with networks of stakeholders, their knowledge and practices.
This expertise is founded on a systemic approach to, as far as possible:

take account of all environmental and sustainable development related issues;
be based on technical as well as economic or financial and sociological elements;
integrate probable changes, identified during forward-looking discussions;
exploit all levers to aid decision-making.
This collective and cross-cutting approach to expertise ensures it is objective, impartial and scientifically neutral."

French, LCA, LCI, energy

N

France

65

Analysis of embodied energy use in the residential building of Hong Kong

"Energy use in buildings accounts for nearly half of the total primary energy use in Hong Kong. Until now, studies have primarily focused on energy conservation in building operation, even though recent research has indicated that the embodied energy used in residential buildings could account for up to 40% of the life-cycle energy used in residential buildings. Accordingly, this paper presents a study on the energy embodied in the residential building envelope of Hong Kong. A model for estimating the intensities of the embodied and demolition energy for buildings has been developed. Two typical high-rise residential buildings, the Housing Authority Harmony 1 and the New Cruciform blocks, are analysed based on the developed model. The results of the analysis provide an insight into the embodied energy usage profile in residential buildings in Hong Kong. Energy embodied in steel and aluminium ranks as the first and second largest energy demand and may account for more than three-quarters of the total embodied energy use in a residential building envelope in Hong Kong. This reveals those building components with significant potential for reduction in embodied energy demand."

"We’re committed to helping you reduce the environmental impact of the buildings you create … from product design and raw material selection, to how products are made and delivered. Our EPDs have been third party-certified by UL Environment as conforming to the requirements of ISO 14025."

EPD, ceilings, walls, suspension system, trims & transitions

N

67

ASTM EPD list

ASTM

https://www.astm.org/CERTIFICATION/EpdAndPCRs.html

resource

data

intermediate, advanced

X

"An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) provides quantifiable environmental data to compare products that fulfill the same function. In order to create comparable EPDs, they must follow the rules and guidelines called for in the associated PCR."

"Brightway2 is a open source framework for life cycle assessment (LCA). It doesn’t try to replace software like SimaPro or OpenLCA, but rather to offer new possibilities to those who want to break the limits of conventional LCA. So it's not for everyone, and you will need to invest some time learning about Python to use Brightway2. Basically, this is the framework for you if your project lies at the intersection of LCA and your imagination."

open-source, Python, coding, LCA, postdoctoral

N

69

Building Innovation: A Guide For High-Performance Energy Efficient Buildings In India

Berkeley Lab, UC Berkeley

https://eta.lbl.gov/publications/building-innovation-guide-high

resource

information/publication

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

"This Building Innovation Guide provides technical recommendations for achieving high-performance Indian office buildings that are smart, green, and energy efficient. The best practices recommended in the Guide are particularly suited to the climatic, cultural, and construction context of India, thereby offering localized solutions."

Energy

N

Reshma Singh, Baptiste Ravache, Dale A Sartor

May 2018

India

70

Carbon Smart Building Collective Impact

CLF +

http://carbonleadershipforum.org/collective-impact/

resource

community

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

X

"We began planning for a global collective impact initiative to transform the built environment from a source of billions of tons of carbon emissions every year to a massive carbon sink, absorbing over a billion tons of CO2 each year by 2050. To achieve this ambitious goal, we expect to create a broad coalition of building industry actors to jointly implement a comprehensive strategy of rapid market transformation. The initiative is being organized by the Carbon Leadership Forum with the support of leading building industry organizations including Architecture 2030, the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, the Ecological Building Network, and the US Green Building Council."

carbon, 2050

N

71

Carbon Smart Building Day

CLF +

http://carbonsmartbuilding.org/

resource

Event

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

X

"Carbon Smart Building Day will provide concrete steps that governments, corporations, organizations and individuals can take to lead the industry transformation necessary to realize our vision of a Zero Net Carbon (ZNC) built environment.:

New Buildings – Operations and Embodied Emissions. All new buildings and developments are ZNC by 2030, with increase in carbon-storing material use.
Existing Buildings – Operations and Embodied Emissions. Extend building lifespan to 100 + years and retrofit existing buildings to ZNC operations by 2050.
Health and Equity. All new building (material production, construction, and use) is healthy, equitable and just."

carbon, 2030, 2050, San Francisco, embodied carbon

Y

72

Carbon Smart Material Palette

Arch 2030/CLF

unavailable

resource

guideline

beginner

X

"Attribute-based design and specification guidance aimed at reducing the embodied carbon impacts of the built environment."

carbon, 2030, 2050, embodied carbon

N

73

Case Studies - Getting to Zero

Getting to Zero Forum

https://gettingtozeroforum.org/case-studies/

resource

information/publication

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

X

"Each of the four categories of case studies — Commercial, Schools, Multifamily and Single Family — presents some of the best examples of ultra-low and zero energy buildings in North America. In addition to the projects presented here, other collections of case studies offer further useful information on zero energy projects."

Zero Energy, case study

N

74

Certified Product Database

GreenCircle Certified, LLC

http://www.greencirclecertified.com/database/

resource

data

intermediate, advanced

X

"GreenCircle Certified, LLC was established to ensure specificity in third-party certification after encountering many unsubstantiated claims in the marketplace. Since 2009, GreenCircle has offered forward-thinking companies a competitive advantage by providing specific, third-party certification of environmental claims. GreenCircle's rigorous evaluation process provides independent verification that claims of sustainable aspects of products and operations are valid. Manufacturers, suppliers, regulators, occupants, and consumers can be assured that products labeled with the GreenCircle Certified mark have been thoroughly assessed and their claims verified to applicable standards."

his document is directed at LCA experts who are looking for technical recommendations to support the development of LCAs of buildings in North America. Note that the version dated 2018-07-09 has the same content as the version dated 2018-06-19, but with different title page formatting that includes sponsor logos.

LCA, LCI, embodied carbon

N

77

CO₂ and Energy Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Cement Industry

"The “Cement CO2 and Energy Protocol: CO2 and Energy Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Cement Industry” provides a harmonized methodology for calculating CO2 emissions, with a view to reporting these emissions transparently. It addresses all direct and the main indirect sources of CO2 emissions related to the cement manufacturing process, in absolute as well as in specific or unit-based terms... This protocol is today the most relevant guidance document for the measurement and reporting of CO2 emissions in the cement industry worldwide. Most international cement firms use it, the EU Emissions Trading System, the US EPA Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule, the California Climate Registry, and the Global Superior Energy Partnership (formerly Asia Pacific Partnership) have adopted it, and the European Standardization Organization (CEN) has accepted it as basis for developing a cement sector standard. The protocol comprises three elements: A guidance document containing relevant definitions and explanations for the CO2 inventory, the Excel Spreadsheet to help companies prepare their CO2 inventories, and the Internet Manual, which provides step-by-step guidance for filling out the protocol. It is designed to make it easy to find answers to questions on the practical aspects of CO2and energy reporting"

cement, emissions

N

78

Construction Climate Talks

Construction Climate Challenge

http://constructionclimatechallenge.com/climate-talks/

resource

information/publication

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

X

"Directed at LCA experts who are looking for technical recommendations to support the development of LCAs of buildings in North America. This is a proposed information scheme for reporting information relating to LCAs of buildings."

"Guides, standards, product category rules, and environmental product declarations have emerged to evaluate environmental impacts within the buildings sector. These efforts have certainly moved the field forward, but as of yet still do not ensure comparability among building products or whole buildings. In this paper, we aim to address critical issues and make recommendations to practitioner and those developing guidance to enable more robust comparisons of building products and whole buildings. "

"This document presents a whole-building environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Design Building, an educational building in Amherst, Massachusetts. The LCA was commissioned to publicly declare the environmental performance of the building."

"This paper introduces architects to carbon assessment in the built environment and its application through the RIBA work stages. It makes the case for architects’ role in reducing carbon emissions to mitigate climate change, explains the key concepts of embodied and whole life carbon and recommends the use of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) methodology for undertaking detailed carbon assessments (RICS Whole life carbon assessment for the built environment professional statement 2017)."

"Embodied carbon is the carbon footprint of a material. It considers how many greenhouse gases (GHGs) are released throughout the supply chain and is often measured from cradle to (factory) gate, or cradle to site (of use). Embodied carbon may also be measured with the boundaries of cradle to grave, which is the most complete boundary condition. This boundary includes the extraction of materials from the ground, transport, refining, processing, assembly, in-use (of the product) and finally its end of life profile."

"The Embodied Carbon Benchmark Study provides data to building industry professionals integrating embodied carbon into life cycle decision making. However, in order to allow embodied carbon results to be comparable across projects and practices, a common standard for life cycle analysis is required. The next stage of this project will result in the creation of such an environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) practice guide (due December 2017). This report outlines the first stage of the project, which establishes reasonable estimates of the embodied carbon of buildings (the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from extracting, manufacturing and installing materials and products over the life cycle of a building) and characterizes the level and sources of uncertainty in our current knowledge."

LCA, residential, office buildings, embodied carbon

N

Duncan Cox, Erin McDade, Adrian Smith

February 2017

Buildings

84

Embodied Carbon Benchmark Visualization

CLF

http://www.carbonleadershipforum.org/data-visualization/

resource

information/publication, data

intermediate, advanced

X

"This reports the embodied carbon per unit area for over 1,000 buildings included in the Embodied Carbon Benchmark Study."

LCA, residential, office buildings, embodied carbon

N

85

Embodied Carbon in Buildings

Springer International Publishing

http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319727950

resource

information/publication

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

"This book provides a single-source reference for whole life embodied impacts of buildings. The comprehensive and persuasive text, written by over 50 invited experts from across the world, offers an indispensable resource both to newcomers and to established practitioner in the field. Ultimately it provides a persuasive argument as to why embodied impacts are an essential aspect of sustainable built environments. The book is divided into four sections: measurement, including a strong emphasis on uncertainty analysis, as well as offering practical case studies of individual buildings and a comparison of materials; management, focusing in particular on the perspective of designers and contractors; mitigation, which identifies some specific design strategies as well as challenges; and finally global approaches, six chapters which describe in authoritative detail the ways in which the different regions of the world are tackling the issue. Provides a comprehensive, up-to-date guide to embodied carbon calculation and reduction, with a particular focus on understanding uncertainty; Includes examples of approaches used by industry professionals, and specific routes to embodied carbon reduction; Identifies the methodologies, tools and standards in use around the world."

This primer provides an overview of the concept of embodied carbon and describes how life cycle assessment (LCA) can be used to calculate and minimize life cycle GHG impacts from construction projects. It draws on the lessons learned from a recent case study that calculated the embodied carbon of a new commercial building in Toronto and explores how LCA can be applied in Ontario to minimize life cycle GHG impacts from construction projects. The primer combines international best practices and an understanding of Ontario’s specific technical, financial and political context to offer recommended actions that specific stakeholder groups can take to translate lessons learned from LCA research into concrete policy and processes.

embodied carbon, LCA, policy

N

Ryan Zizzo

December 2017

Ontario

Policy

87

Embodied Carbon Network

ECN

http://carbonleadershipforum.org/embodied-carbon-network/

resource

information/publication, community

beginner, intermediate, advanced

X

X

X

X

"The Embodied Carbon Network is a collective group of individuals within taskforces committed to designing embodied and operational carbon out of our new and renovated buildings to achieve a carbon neutral built environment by 2050. The built environment accounts for nearly half of the United States’ total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While progress has been made toward improving the carbon footprint of the building sector – particularly through reducing carbon emitted by operating buildings – greater effort is needed to address ‘embodied’ carbon, the less discernible, yet equally important source of environmental degradation that results from producing building materials and construction."

"Addressing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from buildings and infrastructure is a key component of the global fight against climate change. In addition to the current focus on operational GHG emissions, this increasingly involves considering embodied GHG emissions (commonly referred to as “embodied carbon”). Embodied carbon in construction refers to the GHG emissions associated with the manufacturing, maintenance, and decommissioning of a structure.

Commissioned by B.C.’s Forestry Innovation Investment Ltd., the findings and recommendations in this report are based on a review of international policies and programs that are intended to reduce embodied GHG emissions of buildings and infrastructure projects over their life cycle"

research, embodied carbon

N

90

Embodied Carbon of Buildings and Infrastructure - International Policy Review

Review of international policies and programs that are intended to reduce embodied GHG emissions of buildings and infrastructure projects over their life cycle. Jurisdictions reviewed: Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

research, embodied carbon, policy, international

N

Ryan Zizzo, Joanna Kyriazis, Helen Goodland

September 2017

Buildings

91

Embodied Carbon: Developing a Client Brief

UK Green Building Council

https://www.ukgbc.org/ukgbc-work/embodied-carbon-practical-guidance/

resource

Guidance document

intermediate, advanced

X

The purpose of this guide is to set out clear and practical guidance to enable built environment clients to begin requesting embodied carbon measurements. This includes understanding the outcomes from an assessment and how to start acting on the results.

The guidance explains:

some of the basics of embodied carbon
gives an overview of some suggested approaches
provides example clauses to propel embodied carbon requirements down the supply chain and
gives practical tips on how to use the outcomes of an assessment.
The guidance is appropriate for any capital investment intervention in the built environment such as new build, refurbishment or renewal whether in buildings, infrastructure or other built assets.

"3EID provides two types of data file on embodied environmental intensities. One is data files showing sectoral embodied environmental intensities and fundamental data used for calculating the intensities. Another one is data files representing a breakdown of embodied environmental intensity of each sector."

embodied carbon, emissions

N

2006

Japan

93

Energy Information Handbook

US Dept of Energy

https://buildingdata.energy.gov/cbrd/resource/1056

resource

information/publication

beginner, intermediate

X

X

X

"This handbook targets two primary areas for creating energy-efficient buildings: (1) How to interpret energy data to improve efficiency and performance; (2) How to use computation and programming to combine the use of spreadsheet or programmable analysis tools with data from on-site meter and sensor acquisition systems. The primary audience for this handbook is commercial building owners, energy and facility managers, financial managers, and operators with little to no experience in data analysis and performance monitoring. The secondary audience is software developers and energy service providers in the commercial building industry, as well as more experienced owners and managers who wish to improve how they visualize, analyze, and manage their building’s energy use."

This paper presents a study of the environmental impacts due to a building from 1997 with a large proportion of reused building materials and components. Two cases were studied; (i) the building as it was built with a large proportion of reused materials and components (ii) the building as if all materials and components had been new. The results showed that theenvironmental impacts were about 55% of the impacts that would have been caused if all materials had been new.The reuse of clay bricks and roofing clay tiles accounted for the main decrease in environmental impacts. Further,these materials can be transported over quite long distances and still give environmental benefits.

"As an EPD Program Operator, UL Environment helps manufacturers locate existing or create new PCRs and then certifies that all information in a manufacturer’s LCA and finished EPD is accurate. UL Environment also provides Transparency Summary documents to make key information included in the EPD more assessable."

"Learn about the maximum acceptable Global Warming Potential (GWP) for eligible materials: carbon steel rebar, flat glass, mineral wool board insulation and structural steel. The Buy Clean California Act (Assembly Bill (AB) 262, Chapter 816, Statutes of 2017), signed into law October 15, 2017, states that by January 1, 2019, DGS is required to establish and publish the GWP in the State Contracting Manual."

"The Australasian EPD Programme is an independent framework for business in Australia and New Zealand to provide objective, science-based environmental data and other information about their products and services.

"The North American wood products industry is committed to sustainability in its products and their use. In support of this commitment, we are pleased to share third-party verified Environmental Product Declarations and Transparency Briefs that describe the environmental performance of many of the products we produce."

EPD

N

100

External Stakeholder Comments Page

California Department of General Services

https://www.dgs.ca.gov/pd/Programs/Engineering/AB262.aspx

resource

community

intermediate, advanced

X

X

"The California Department of General Services is posting this 45-day Public Notice of proposed Implementation to the Buy Clean California Act (AB 262, Bonta. 2017)."

Buy Clean, comments, California

N

CA

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